only human
by Omnisentinel
Summary: Inuyasha & the rest of the gang find a small village that was attacked by a demon. They find one survivor and let him join them. There is some language and violence, nothing too graphic (In my opinion at least) Read & Review!
1. Blind warrior

Title: …only human.

By: EVL5011

E-mail: Omnipotentevil5011yahoo.com

Chapter 1: The destroyed village

InuYasha, Kagome, Sango and Miroku were traveling for what seemed days. They were on the trail of a shard of the Shikkon jewel. From what they had heard, a demon belonging to a large clan had possession of a shard. They didn't know what kind of demon clan they would encounter, but they obviously knew that any demon with a jewel shard would be a threat. "Lets stop and rest, we've been walking nonstop for hours!" cried Kagome. She slowed down and sat down on the soft grass.

InuYasha turned and sneered at the young girl, "At this rate we'll never find that jewel shard." InuYasha stopped and sat down. He patiently waited for everybody to catch his or her second wind.

Sango and Miroku both looked around and watched as the white clouds slowly passed overhead. The gentle morning air blew through Sango's long hair and exposed her beautiful neck. With a perverted glance, Miroku smiled and tried to catch a better look.

"Don't even think about it!" yelled Sango. She quickly walked over to Kagome and InuYasha and suggested that they continue on their quest.

They continued walking and came upon a rather large hill and noticed a village that was smoldering. InuYasha approached the highest point on the hill and realized something. "Hurry up! I smell the strong scent of blood in the air!"

All four of them ran as fast as they could towards the village and finally came upon the entrance. To their shock the bodies of dozens of men and women, who were dressed in heavy armor, were torn apart. Blood and various limbs covered the dirt ground. Many of the small houses were either burnt or badly ruined.

Sango examined some of the damaged houses and found large scratch marks covering the exterior walls. "I think that demon we're after was here, but it seems that it wasn't alone." Sango walked away from the small structure and studied the strange weapons on the ground. The men that lay dead held in their hands large swords made of a very strong metal. Sango suddenly knew who the dead were, "These weren't ordinary men. They were demon hunters!!"

"What? I thought that you and your family were the only demon hunters?" asked InuYasha.

"I thought so too, but I had once heard stories about another family that's been around longer than ours. I didn't think they existed." Sango then noticed a golden crest on the face of one of the houses. She walked over to the golden symbol and found the mark of a demon skull with a sword plunged above it. "This crest…it is them!" Sango placed her hand over the golden symbol and moved back.

"So, are they who you think they are?" asked Miroku while staring at the golden crest.

Before Sango even had a chance to reply, a large spear plunged itself into the wooden wall. The sharp weapon nearly struck Sango and Miroku it not for their fast reflexes. Our four heroes turned around and noticed a single person standing on top of a nearby house. The person was dressed in a black outfit, a matching mask concealed his face and he held in his two hands a katana sword.

InuYasha and Sango both jumped on top of a nearby house and jumped from roof to roof. The two were mere feet away from the unknown person. Suddenly, the mysterious person leapt high into the air and threw multiple metal blades at them. InuYasha and Sango both skillfully dodged the barrage of sharp blades and landed safely.

"Stop! We're not your enemy!" yelled Sango. The young demon hunter looked closely at the mysterious attacker and noticed that his mask covered his entire face, "How can he see?" wondered Sango. Lowering her guard for one second, the attacker jumped towards her and InuYasha and swung his katana sword.

"That's it! I've had enough of this chikusoume!" with that said, InuYasha made a fist and delivered a powerful blow to the attackers chest.

"Ugghhh!" The attacker stumbled back clutching his chest. He fell to his knees and dropped his sword. Underneath his dark clothing was a large injury. The mysterious attacker collapsed and a large puddle of blood began to appear from under him. The dark blood ran down the roof of the house and dripped down onto the dirt.

"How hard did you hit him?" asked Sango. The female demon hunter ran over to the fallen warrior and yelled at InuYasha that he help her bring him down. InuYasha gritted his teeth and felt a bit guilty and brought the person down.

Kagome and Miroku both removed the mysterious persons shirt and mask, revealing multiple injuries. They ensured that the small house that they were in was safe and began examining the young mans injuries. His chest and stomach had large cuts, lacerations, and dark blue bruises. On his back were scars from past battles, Kagome applied a wet cloth on the young mans head and wiped the dry blood.

"How was he able to continue fighting?" asked a bewildered Miroku. "All of his injuries are near fatal, this man can't possibly be human!"

Sango approached the unconscious man and knelt down beside him, "I hope that he doesn't die" prayed Sango. She felt responsible for engaging him and letting InuYasha hit him. "What if he's the last of his family?"

"Don't worry about him too much, he had it coming. He attacked us first, we had no choice but to defend ourselves." InuYasha sneered at the unconscious man and walked away.

An hour had passed… Kagome and Sango both sat by the young man and watched over him. Sango patiently waited for him to regain consciousness. Just as she was beginning to fall asleep she felt somebody grab her wrist. Startled she almost fell back and noticed the young man opening his eyes. To her and Kagome's surprise the man had white eyes, the young man appeared to be blind.

Slowly sitting up the young man spoke, "Where am I? Who are you people?" The young man searched the floor for his sword, which had been taken away from him.

"You finally woke up, it's about time!" InuYasha approached the young man and knelt down beside him. "Now who the hell are you? And why did you attack US?" demanded the hanyou.

The young man moved his head in InuYasha's direction and sniffed the air, "You! You're a demon!" The young man lunged at InuYasha grabbing him by the throat. "You filthy demon! I'll kill you and all of your brethren!"

Kagome, Sango and Miroku both grabbed the young man and tried to get his hands off of InuYasha's throat. The young man had a strong grip and was crushing InuYasha's throat.

"Let InuYasha go! He didn't kill your friends and family!" pleaded Kagome. She let go of the young man and picked up Miroku's staff off the ground. She closed her eyes and struck the man beside the head, forcing him to release InuYasha.

The young man picked himself off the floor and blindly examined the room, "Two females, one male, and one demon." The young man searched his body and realized that all of his weapons were gone. Knowing that he was completely helpless he sat back down and looked down at the ground.

Miroku helped InuYasha off the floor and restrained him from attacking the young man. Kagome and Sango both approached the young man cautiously.

"We're sorry that we attacked you, but InuYasha is right. You did attack us first, now what's your name?" asked Sango.

The young man looked in Sango's direction and answered, "It's Mekura, and I'm sorry I attacked you. But when I smelled that demon with you, I immediately assumed that it was one of the demons that killed my friends and family." The young man looked towards Kagome and gave her a blind stare, "You…you're the one who hit me on the head. What's your name?"

"Its Kagome." She replied. Kagome looked closer at Mekura and gazed into his white eyes. "I don't mean to ask, but are you blind?"

Mekura smiled at Kagome and grabbed her hand, "Yes, I am. I've been blind for many years."

InuYasha pushed Miroku away and walked over to Mekura, "Okay, enough with the fucking formalities. What the hell happe…"

Mekura interrupted InuYasha, "You're a demon correct?"

"Yes and No, I'm only half demon. Why is it so important to you?" asked InuYasha in his usual rude tone.

"I was just curious, what's a demon doing traveling with a group of humans?" asked Mekura.

"That's none of your business!" InuYasha held back his urge to beat Mekura senseless and left the small house. After InuYasha left the room Miroku broke the awkward silence.

"Can you tell us what exactly happened here?" asked Miroku.

"We were in midst of training, as we usually do everyday, when we were attacked by a fierce clan of demons. We managed to kill dozens of them, but their leader appeared and slaughtered our best hunters. We just couldn't defeat him. He possessed a strange jewel that enabled him to shoot flames from the palms of his hands. When we thought that we finally had him beat, he summoned forth a flaming sword and finished off any survivors." Mekura wiped a tear from his cheek and resumed, "I fought him alone and did what I was told never to do with an opponent. I underestimated his fighting skills. He injured me many times until I collapsed, I guess the demon thought that I died and disappeared. I then awoke when I heard your voices in the distance, that's when I first met you."

Sango, Miroku and Kagome took a few seconds to take in everything that Mekura had told them. It all seemed so surreal that a blind man would have enough courage to battle a demon with a shard of the Shikkon jewel by himself.

"What abilities do you possess?" asked Miroku.

"I don't understand your question, what abilities do you mean? That I know, I possess no special abilities other than my years of intense sword fighting and training." commented Mekura. Confused by the strange question he turned his head and faced Miroku.

"Not to be rude, but your blind. You couldn't have possibly fought off any demons in your current condition." Sango knew that no mere person with a disability could fight as long as he did.

"You're young and ignorant, I don't expect to you to understand, but even blindness can't stop a man from sharpening his other senses." Mekura stood up and placed his hand on the wall, "Now, where are my weapons. I have to avenge the death of my friends and family."

Miroku and Kagome both moved away and let Mekura walk by. Kagome followed closely behind him and lead him to his weapons.

"Do you want us to help you? After all, we're after the same demon." Asked Kagome.

Mekura turned and smiled at Kagome, "Yes, I would like that a lot. I don't think that I'm strong enough to fight that demon by myself."

"Sango and Miroku both walked outside and explained to InuYasha what arrangements they had made. They were to rest for the day and leave in the morning. InuYasha was reluctant to have a new person join them.

InuYasha walked back inside and watched as Kagome and Mekura talked nonstop, "Why the hell do we have to let this cripple come with us?" thought InuYasha. "If you slow us down, I won't think twice about leaving you behind." Yelled InuYasha.

With the sun going down our heroes buried the dead. Miroku and Mekura both stood over the graves of the dead and said silent prayers. Both prayed that the souls of the dead would find their way to heaven. Come tomorrow, they would leave the village and search for the demons responsible for the merciless slaughter.


	2. Onslaught

Title: …only human.

By: EVL5011

E-mail: Omnipotentevil5011yahoo.com

AN: To answer any questions about which the pairing is, its InuYasha and Sango. Since I believe those two characters to be the best when it comes down to fighting. Not to say that Kagome and Miroku don't know how to fight, send any flames or hate mail to my e-mail. To me, any replies, reviews, flames, etc…are good.

Chapter 2: Onslaught

The morning sun was barely peeking out from over the horizon and Mekura was already prepared to leave. He walked over to InuYasha and the others and woke them up. Mekura patiently waited for them to make their preparations and walked outside. He stood with his head held up high, letting the morning sun warm his battered body. Mekura's head moved slightly as someone walked up behind him.

"Sango is something wrong?" asked Mekura without turning around.

Surprised, Sango walked by Mekura's side, "how did you know it was me?" she asked politely.

"By the weight in your step. Not only that I smelled the faint hint of lotus flowers on your person yesterday." Mekura faced Sango and smiled. He walked back into the room and was told by Miroku that they were ready to leave.

Sango was in total aw by Mekura's strong senses, she looked around and made sure that nobody was watching and smelled the collar of her shirt and wondered how he smelled the faint aroma of the flowers. Sango noticed that everyone was ready to leave and made sure that she had all of her possessions with her.

They immediately left the battle torn village and began their journey to find the clan of demons that had lay waste Mekura's family and friends. Kagome, Sango, and Miroku followed closely behind InuYasha and Mekura, both whom had picked up the demons horrid scent in the air. Everything was quite until InuYasha felt he had to break the eerie silence between him and Mekura.

"So how long you been blind?" asked InuYasha.

"InuYasha! How could you ask him that?" yelled Kagome.

"It's alright, I was wondering when someone was going to ask. I lost my sight when I was battling a demon six years ago. The wretched beast was dying and I advanced on it to kill it, when it spewed a vile poison at my face. The demon got away and left me on the ground. If not for my brother I would of surely died, he took me to the village priest, who cured the poison. Unfortunately, I lost my sight." Mekura stopped walking and turned his head, something caught his attention.

"What is it?" asked InuYasha. The hanyou listened, but didn't hear anything.

"I hear the screams of women and children. It's got to be them!" Mekura began to run as fast as he could across the vast fields of grass. He quickly left InuYasha and the others behind.

InuYasha and the others ran behind Mekura, they actually had trouble keeping up with the young hunter.

"Damn, I've never seen a man run that fast!" yelled InuYasha as he chased after Mekura.

Once they had finally caught up with the demon hunter, they came to a halt at the sight of a ravaged town. Mekura was already fighting some strange lizard demons. The young man yelled at the remaining villagers to run for safety.

"Well? What are you guys waiting for? Lets go help him!" InuYasha pulled tetsusaiga from its scabbard and headed into the skirmish.

InuYasha and Mekura both tore through every demon without breaking a sweat. Sango, Miroku and Kagome ran behind them and stopped when the ground began to shake.

"W-What's that?" asked a frightened Kagome.

"More demons!" Sango pointed towards a large mass of demons that were headed straight for them.

"You didn't think that these pathetic creatures were them, did you?" asked Mekura. "That's the real demon clan, these dead demons were just their underlings."

The large mass of demons charged into the village, destroying the houses that remained standing. The demons appeared human, but were far from it. They were a mixed variety of lizard, snake and other different serpent-like creatures. Within matter of seconds they surrounded our five protagonists.

"Geez, you think that there'd be more of them!" smirked InuYasha. The hanyou lunged forward and hacked his way through the numerous demons.

"Arrogant demon? Is he always that stupid and quick to act without thinking?" asked Mekura.

"Yeah, he is." Replied Kagome.

"Well, it's now or never." Mekura wiped the fresh blood from his blade and attacked the nearest demons.

Sango watched as Mekura skillfully slashed through the countless demons, severing limbs and heads off of his opponents.

"I've never seen anybody move that fast!" remarked Miroku as he batted away the attacking demons. "He can't be that good."

Sango reached for her boomerang and threw it across the demons, cutting them in two. The upper torso's of the lizard demons fell onto the ground and covered it with a varied assortment of colors. The intestines, kidneys and large chunks of flesh decorated the ground.

Kagome on the other hand did her best with her bow and arrows. The battle was mainly for those who had blunt or sharp weapons. With the restricted space to maneuver in, Kagome shadowed InuYasha; she knew that he would protect her. Miroku ran behind Kagome and realized that Sango and Mekura were dead in the middle of the demons.

"I can't keep this up much longer." Thought Sango. She pulled out her katana and began to cut through whatever stood in front of her. Her body was weakening as she pushed away the countess demons. Just as everything was looking bad for her the numerous demons parted like the Red Sea.

Mekura screamed as he sliced multiple demons into little pieces, "Sango! Get over here!" Mekura darted towards Sango and followed the sound of her faint breathing. Three hulking lizards blocked his path and practically threw themselves at him. One of the lizard demons was quickly struck down, spraying the air with a heavy mist of blood. But, the other two were far more intelligent and blocked Mekura's attacks with their maces.

"Where the hell is Mekura and Sango?" asked InuYasha. He jumped on top of a house and soon realized that they were completed surrounded by the onslaught of demons. "Damn! I knew that blind fool would only slow us down." InuYasha tightened his grip on tetsusaiga and jumped into the swarm of demons. InuYasha landed hard on the ground and spun around. Many of the demons were launched into the air and rained their organs and blood onto the others. InuYasha finally made his way to Mekura and Sango. Both whom were drenched in blood, with the demon onslaught nearly diminished, the ground began to shake once more.

Fire shot up from the ground and engulfed the dead lizard-demons. The remaining demons stopped their attack and withdrew from the battle. InuYasha, Sango and Mekura remained perfectly still; they knew not what was headed straight for them. The clouds above them turned black and the fire shooting from the earth grew more intense. Miroku and Kagome both hid in the shadows and watched as the retreating demons ran past them.

"What's going on?" asked a slightly weakened Sango.

"Its him." Mekura moved in front of Sango and InuYasha, "I hope you know how to properly use that sword." Asked Mekura while he turned his head towards InuYasha.

"You're joking right?" asked InuYasha.

"No, I'm not. I may not be able to see, but I know that you've been swinging your sword as if it weighed a ton. I can tell that something's wrong, every step you've taken sounds…how can I say this. Heavy." Mekura noticed that the shaking had stopped, but a strange energy was building up beneath them. He pushed Sango and InuYasha back, "MOVE!" he shouted.

The ground exploded with a great force sending him crashing into a small house. The wood from the small structure split into pieces. The wooden beams punctured his back and protruded from his chest. Mekura attempted to slide his body off the splintered beams, but found his new injury sapping his strength. He felt his heart rushing as he began to lose consciousness.

Once the dirt in the air cleared, a shadowy figure was seen walking out from it. "Who would dare challenge ME? The Hell-Spawn Lizard?!" Yelled the mysterious demon. The demon slowly stepped out from the smoke and dust. His eyes glowed with an intense red, they seemed to move forward without a body, until he finally emerged from the debris in the air. The large reptile held an enormous sword, which was engulfed in fire, he swung it across the air. It appeared the demon had a flare for the dramatic as he roared in anger.

Interrupting the demons moment InuYasha stepped forward with tetsusaiga in hand, "Shut the fuck up! Who the hell calls themselves the Hell-Spawn Lizard?" quipped InuYasha.

"InuYasha, where's Mekura?" asked a concerned Sango.

"Don't know, don't care." InuYasha rushed the overly dramatic demon and took a swing at him. Tetsusaiga was stopped in mid-swing by the demons enormous sword.

"Big mistake you mangy mongrel!" The large demon smiled and swatted InuYasha away with his powerful hand. InuYasha was thrown into the distance leaving Sango alone with the apparent leader of the demons. She reached for her boomerang, but the quick Hell-Spawn Lizard knocked it out of her hands. The lizard plunged his sword into the ground and a bright burst of light surrounded her, some nearby houses and lastly the demon. The light soon turned into flames that nearly reached the blackened heavens above. "I'm going to enjoy devouring your soft flesh!" smiled the Hell-Spawn Lizard. His sudden smile revealed the countless rows of razor sharp teeth.

Sango looked around and noticed Mekura stuck onto the side of the destroyed house, "Mekura!" Sango reached for her katana sword and threw it at the Hell-Spawn Lizard. The sword found itself buried in the demons neck, giving her enough time to run towards Mekura.

AN: Quick thanks to: KiLaLa, Kagomes Daughter, EternalSailorDarkness, Sango Lover, and Kirtar, General of the Avens.


	3. Chapter 3

Title: …only human.

By: EVL5011

E-mail: omnipotentevil5011yahoo.com

AN: Final chapter, I wanted to Sango to develope a specil bond with Meruka, but with my limited amount of time to write and work I did the best I could. Enjoy!

Chapter 3: Trial by fire

Sango ran up to Mekura and noticed the large piece of lumber sticking from his chest. She turned back and watched as the Hell-Spawn Lizard pulled the sword from his throat. Sango broke the protruding piece of wood and pulled the unconscious hunter off the destroyed structure.

With blood dripping from his chest Sango shook the hunter in hopes of waking him, "Mekura, wake up!" she whispered.

Mekura opened his unseeing eyes and placed his hand on Sango's wrist, "Are you alright?" he asked in a weak voice. Although he had lost a lot of blood, he faced in the direction of the Hell-Spawn Lizard, "Get to safety, I'll deal with that abomination." Mekura gently pushed Sango to the side and unsheathed his large katana sword.

Meanwhile…InuYasha found himself laying on the scorched earth, the two lizard-men he hadn't killed were standing over him with their weapons in hand.

"So little dog-demon you thought that you could kill our brother and flee from us?" smiled the lizard-demon.

With tetsusaiga next to him, InuYasha examined his dismal situation and reached for his sword. The two lizards swung their enormous maces and missed the hanyou. Their heavy weapons smashed into the hard earth creating a large crater.

InuYasha rolled out of the way with tetsusaiga in hand and narrowly escaped the large maces. He swung his bloodstained sword and cut across the two lizard-demons guts. One of them stumbled backwards and fell to his knees, causing the earth to shake. Suddenly, the fallen lizards eyes widened as a small metal object exploded from his mouth. Many of the lizards' razor-sharp teeth shattered and were sent flying forward. The remaining demon turned around, while clutching his large wound, and noticed his brethren burst into ash.

With a surprised look on his face InuYasha saw Kagome and Miroku in the distance, "Where the hell have you two been?!" yelled InuYasha. He then realized that now was the time to strike the unsuspecting demon. With tetsusaiga on his shoulder, he ran behind the last demon and sliced him in two. The remaining beast fell apart, revealing all of his frail organs to the whole world.

"Where's Sango and Mekura?" asked Miroku. While they were fending off the remaining demons they had completely forgotten about them.

"Kuso! They're behind that wall of fire!" InuYasha ran up to the wall of fire and began to sweat profusely. Just as he was about to jump through the flames Miroku pulled him back.

"InuYasha wait! That isn't any ordinary fire, its fire created and strengthened by the Shikkon jewel shard." Miroku walked as close as he possibly could to the barrier and pulled out a small piece of paper. The monk threw the paper at the barrier and watched as the fire appeared to ripple like a pool of water. Almost immediately the barrier of fire parted slightly giving them enough time to run inside and assist Sango and Mekura. Once they were inside they found Mekura battling the Hell-Spawn Lizard alongside with Sango.

"You stupid little man, I'll tear your head off and drink your blood from your neck!" Shouted the furious demon as he repelled every attack that Sango and Mekura tried.

With his severe hemorrhaging, Mekura leapt into the air and came down behind the large demon. He quickly drew his katana and cut both the demons legs. Mekura was beginning to tire and the large demon flailed his tail at him. The strong demon knocked Mekura down on the ground and blocked Sango's attacks.

"While don't you two just give up? You can't possibly expect to beat me!" smirked the Hell-Spawn demon. Unknown to the arrogant demon InuYasha was running straight towards him. The Hell-Spawn Lizard sensed something behind him and turned around blocking InuYasha's attack. "I see your friends don't want you to die alone, that's fine by me. I just have to kill you all!" The Hell-Spawn Lizard swung his flaming sword and struck InuYasha's ribs, "Hahahaa…stupid mutt, did you really think that you were going to catch me off guard? Lets make this more interesting!" The lizard thrust his sword into the ground and the earth began to shake once more. The ground split and molten lava spewed out from the ground. Fire and brimstone shot out of the cracks and were launched into the air.

Mekura and Sango regrouped with the others and put some distance between them and the lizard demon. Sango retrieved her boomerang from the ground and threw it at the lizard, forcing him to back off. With the fire barrier blocking their escape they had no choice but to destroy the demon.

"I've had enough of this kuso! Get out of the way!" InuYasha wiped the sweat from his brow and moved forward. He gradually advanced on the Hell-Spawn Lizard.

"Stop! You'd be stupid to think that you can fight him alone!" shouted Mekura. With his heavy blood lose Mekura chased after InuYasha with his sword in hand, "Stupid hanyou! Why do you have to be so bull-headed?" thought Mekura. "Kagome, I need your archery skills. Can you fire some arrows at the lizard?" asked Mekura.

Kagome nodded her head and fired multiple arrows at the large demon. Miroku felt left out and shadowed Mekura's every move. That only left Sango, who stayed behind with Kagome just in case.

InuYasha jumped at the Hell-Spawn Lizard and began slashing away at him, too bad the demon blocked whatever the young dog-demon could deliver. Mekura and Miroku appeared in the midst of the fray and jumped in to help InuYasha.

"Get behind me!" shouted Miroku. The monk held his hand out and waited for InuYasha and Mekura to take cover behind him.

"Come on! Get behind Miroku! He's going to use his Wind Tunnel on the Hell-Spawn Lizard." InuYasha grabbed Mekura by the arm and pulled him away from the seemingly invincible demon.

Once the two were safely behind Miroku, the young monk removed the prayer beads and unleashed the powerful Wind Tunnel in hopes that it would suck in demon. The Hell-Spawn Lizard felt the violent winds beginning to pull him towards the void in Miroku's hand. The large demon thrust his sword into the ground and held on tight.

With a sinister grin on his face the Hell-Spawn Lizard began to foam at the mouth, "Poison vile!" a thick green liquid shot forth from the lizards mouth and entered into Miroku's Wind Tunnel. The young monk closed his hand and collapsed as the deadly poison entered his blood stream.

"Damn it! Mekura get Miroku out of here!" ordered InuYasha. The hanyou faced Mekura and noticed that his face was filled with an unexplainable anger. "Didn't you hear me? What's wrong with you?"

Mekura then whispered, "It was him…" and squeezed the handle on his katana.

"What the hell are you talking about?" asked InuYasha.

"He's the one that took stole my eyesight." Without further explanation the slayer walked forward and began to attack the Hell-Spawn Lizard. The young slayer didn't even give the large lizard time to pull his sword out of the ground. He moved at a blinding speed, one that even shocked InuYasha as he watched. Mekura became a blur as the large demon attempted to repel him. Large cuts almost magically appeared on the demons body as Mekura circled him, cutting him countless times with every pass.

Sango and Kagome both ran up to InuYasha and Miroku and watched as the large demon stumbled backwards. Kagome and InuYasha picked up Miroku from the ground and administered some medicinal herbs from Jinenji's garden.

Sango held her weapon in hand and was frozen by Mekura's attacks, "He moves so fluid, how can he continue to fight with all of his injuries?" She asked. Sango looked on the ground beneath Mekura and noticed blood dripping from his body, "He's still bleeding?"

"What?" asked InuYasha. The hanyou looked in Mekura's direction and almost became hypnotized by his graceful movements. He then took notice of the obvious, "He won't last much longer at the rate he's moving. We have to help him."

"No, let me. I'll help him, you and Kagome tend to Miroku." Sango placed her boomerang on her back and unsheathed her katana. She darted towards the Hell-Spawn Lizard and jumped into the conflict.

The Hell-Spawn Lizard flailed his arms and tail in a desperate attempt to defend himself against Mekura. His effort eventually paid off and he managed to strike Mekura with his massive arm. Mekura collapsed onto the ground and was picked up by the huge lizard. The Hell-Spawn Lizard held Mekura in his powerful grip and began to crush the mortally injured hunter.

"Let him go!" shouted Sango as she severed the lizards hand clean off with her sword. She watched as Mekura fell to the ground and spit out a massive amount of blood.

The Hell-Spawn Lizard sneered at Sango and jumped back with his remaining hand pointed at Sango, "Die foolish woman!" a large ball of fire appeared from his hand and shot towards her.

Sango closed her eyes and felt the intense heat of the fireball surround her entire body. The heat dissipated and she opened her eye's to find Mekura standing in front of her. He had taken the full force of the attack and shielded Sango from certain death.

"Strike him down, before he recovers from his attack!" shouted Mekura before collapsing onto the ground.

Sango and InuYasha both ran at the Hell-Spawn Lizard and simultaneously swung their swords. Sango cut the Hell-Spawn Lizards legs clean off, disabling him from escaping. InuYasha swung tetsusaiga upwards and sliced the demon from his hip up to his neck. The attack killed the demon instantly, the lizards cocky smile turned sour as one of Kagome's arrows found itself lodged in his left eye. The demon exploded into a bright blue light and burst into ashes, leaving behind the shard of the Shikkon jewel.

The barrier of fire disappeared and the fire and lava covering the earth was absorbed back into the soil. The village lay in ruin, the charred bodies of the dead and lizards covered the ground. The smell was overwhelming and the dark clouds overhead parted revealing the afternoon sun. Even Miroku made a miraculous recovery and got back on his feet, he only felt nauseous, but was strong enough to walk on his own.

"Mekura!" Sango dropped her sword on the ground and knelt down beside him. His blood drenched the thin protective armor and black clothing that he wore.

Mekura opened his eyes at the sound of his new friends around him, "What's wrong? He didn't escape did he?"

"No, he didn't. The demon is dead. Thanks to you." InuYasha smiled with a worried look on his face.

"Then what's wrong? Why are you just standing over me?" asked Mekura. The hunter placed his hand on his chest and felt it get wet with blood, "Oh, that's why you're all standing over me. Don't worry too much about my well being, it was inevitable. Even I have a weakn…" Mekura's voice became quiet and a long silence came over the small group.

With tears streaming down Kagome's and Sango cheeks the two girls walked away. They had become attached to the courage and bravery of a man that had lost everything. InuYasha and Miroku looked at the still body of Mekura, both uncertain on what to say that could make things better.

InuYasha placed his hand over Mekura's eyes and shut them, "I should've listened to his advice not to jump foolishly into battle. Maybe if I'd taken his advice he'd still be alive." InuYasha stood up and followed Sango, who he knew had more in common with Mekura.

Sango and Kagome both talked quietly amongst themselves until InuYasha walked up to them, "Sango, I'm sorry. I know that you and Mekura had a lot in common, but he did it to protect you."

Sango nodded her head and wiped the tears from her face, "I know InuYasha, and he probably wouldn't want me to weep for him. After all he endured, all of his injuries and he preferred to sacrifice his life for mine. I didn't think that he had any weaknesses, he survived the Hell-Spawn Demon twice.

Before Sango could say anymore InuYasha abruptly stopped her, "He did have one weakness Sango." InuYasha said while looking her in the eyes.

"What?" she asked.

"It wasn't his disability, because he overcame that and the overwhelming odds against him. His weakness…his flaw was that he was…" InuYasha struggled to hold his emotions together and finished, "…only human." InuYasha turned around and walked away.

The End.

AN: I know the story ends a tad depressing, but it had to end some how, right? Big thanks to the few, but great people who've recently submitted reviews! Big thanks, that says a lot!


	4. alternate outcome to chapter 3 The story...

Title: …only human.

By: EVL5011  

E-mail: omnipotentevil5011yahoo.com

AN: This chapter varies a bit in how it ends. I had lined up two different outcomes and this would be the extended version. I had a dilemma, it was my time constraints, if I had enough I would write this outcome. And if I didn't it would've ended the way it did earlier.

Chapter 3: Trial by fire

            Sango ran up to Mekura and noticed the large piece of lumber sticking from his chest. She turned back and watched as the Hell-Spawn Lizard pulled the sword from his throat. Sango broke the protruding piece of wood and pulled the unconscious hunter off the destroyed structure.

            With blood dripping from his chest Sango shook the hunter in hopes of waking him, "Mekura, wake up!" she whispered.

            Mekura opened his unseeing eyes and placed his hand on Sango's wrist, "Are you alright?" he asked in a weak voice. Although he had lost a lot of blood, he faced in the direction of the Hell-Spawn Lizard, "Get to safety, I'll deal with that abomination." Mekura gently pushed Sango to the side and unsheathed his large katana sword.

            Meanwhile…InuYasha found himself laying on the scorched earth, the two lizard-men he hadn't killed were standing over him with their weapons in hand.

            "So little dog-demon you thought that you could kill our brother and flee from us?" smiled the lizard-demon.

            With tetsusaiga next to him, InuYasha examined his dismal situation and reached for his sword. The two lizards swung their enormous maces and missed the hanyou. Their heavy weapons smashed into the hard earth creating a large crater.

            InuYasha rolled out of the way with tetsusaiga in hand and narrowly escaped the large maces. He swung his bloodstained sword and cut across the two lizard-demons guts. One of them stumbled backwards and fell to his knees, causing the earth to shake. Suddenly, the fallen lizards eyes widened as a small metal object exploded from his mouth. Many of the lizards' razor-sharp teeth shattered and were sent flying forward. The remaining demon turned around, while clutching his large wound, and noticed his brethren burst into ash.

            With a surprised look on his face InuYasha saw Kagome and Miroku in the distance, "Where the hell have you two been?!" yelled InuYasha. He then realized that now was the time to strike the unsuspecting demon. With tetsusaiga on his shoulder, he ran behind the last demon and sliced him in two. The remaining beast fell apart, revealing all of his frail organs to the whole world.          

            "Where's Sango and Mekura?" asked Miroku. While they were fending off the remaining demons they had completely forgotten about them.

            "Kuso! They're behind that wall of fire!" InuYasha ran up to the wall of fire and began to sweat profusely. Just as he was about to jump through the flames Miroku pulled him back.

            "InuYasha wait! That isn't any ordinary fire, its fire created and strengthened by the Shikkon jewel shard." Miroku walked as close as he possibly could to the barrier and pulled out a small piece of paper. The monk threw the paper at the barrier and watched as the fire appeared to ripple like a pool of water. Almost immediately the barrier of fire parted slightly giving them enough time to run inside and assist Sango and Mekura. Once they were inside they found Mekura battling the Hell-Spawn Lizard alongside with Sango.

            "You stupid little man, I'll tear your head off and drink your blood from your neck!" Shouted the furious demon as he repelled every attack that Sango and Mekura tried.

            With his severe hemorrhaging, Mekura leapt into the air and came down behind the large demon. He quickly drew his katana and cut both the demons legs. Mekura was beginning to tire and the large demon flailed his tail at him. The strong demon knocked Mekura down on the ground and blocked Sango's attacks.

            "While don't you two just give up? You can't possibly expect to beat me!" smirked the Hell-Spawn demon. Unknown to the arrogant demon InuYasha was running straight towards him. The Hell-Spawn Lizard sensed something behind him and turned around blocking InuYasha's attack. "I see your friends don't want you to die alone, that's fine by me. I just have to kill you all!" The Hell-Spawn Lizard swung his flaming sword and struck InuYasha's ribs, "Hahahaa…stupid mutt, did you really think that you were going to catch me off guard? Lets make this more interesting!" The lizard thrust his sword into the ground and the earth began to shake once more. The ground split and molten lava spewed out from the ground. Fire and brimstone shot out of the cracks and were launched into the air.

            Mekura and Sango regrouped with the others and put some distance between them and the lizard demon. Sango retrieved her boomerang from the ground and threw it at the lizard, forcing him to back off. With the fire barrier blocking their escape they had no choice but to destroy the demon.

            "I've had enough of this kuso! Get out of the way!" InuYasha wiped the sweat from his brow and moved forward. He gradually advanced on the Hell-Spawn Lizard.

            "Stop! You'd be stupid to think that you can fight him alone!" shouted Mekura. With his heavy blood lose Mekura chased after InuYasha with his sword in hand, "Stupid hanyou! Why do you have to be so bull-headed?" thought Mekura. "Kagome, I need your archery skills. Can you fire some arrows at the lizard?" asked Mekura.

            Kagome nodded her head and fired multiple arrows at the large demon. Miroku felt left out and shadowed Mekura's every move. That only left Sango, who stayed behind with Kagome just in case.

            InuYasha jumped at the Hell-Spawn Lizard and began slashing away at him, too bad the demon blocked whatever the young dog-demon could deliver. Mekura and Miroku appeared in the midst of the fray and jumped in to help InuYasha.

            "Get behind me!" shouted Miroku. The monk held his hand out and waited for InuYasha and Mekura to take cover behind him.

            "Come on! Get behind Miroku! He's going to use his Wind Tunnel on the Hell-Spawn Lizard." InuYasha grabbed Mekura by the arm and pulled him away from the seemingly invincible demon.

            Once the two were safely behind Miroku, the young monk removed the prayer beads and unleashed the powerful Wind Tunnel in hopes that it would suck in demon. The Hell-Spawn Lizard felt the violent winds beginning to pull him towards the void in Miroku's hand. The large demon thrust his sword into the ground and held on tight.

            With a sinister grin on his face the Hell-Spawn Lizard began to foam at the mouth, "Poison vile!" a thick green liquid shot forth from the lizards mouth and entered into Miroku's Wind Tunnel. The young monk closed his hand and collapsed as the deadly poison entered his blood stream.

            "Damn it! Mekura get Miroku out of here!" ordered InuYasha. The hanyou faced Mekura and noticed that his face was filled with an unexplainable anger. "Didn't you hear me? What's wrong with you?"

            Mekura then whispered, "It was him…" and squeezed the handle on his katana.

            "What the hell are you talking about?" asked InuYasha.

            "He's the one that took stole my eyesight." Without further explanation the slayer walked forward and began to attack the Hell-Spawn Lizard. The young slayer didn't even give the large lizard time to pull his sword out of the ground. He moved at a blinding speed, one that even shocked InuYasha as he watched. Mekura became a blur as the large demon attempted to repel him. Large cuts almost magically appeared on the demons body as Mekura circled him, cutting him countless times with every pass.

            Sango and Kagome both ran up to InuYasha and Miroku and watched as the large demon stumbled backwards. Kagome and InuYasha picked up Miroku from the ground and administered some medicinal herbs from Jinenji's garden.

            Sango held her weapon in hand and was frozen by Mekura's attacks, "He moves so fluid, how can he continue to fight with all of his injuries?" She asked. Sango looked on the ground beneath Mekura and noticed blood dripping from his body, "He's still bleeding?"

            "What?" asked InuYasha. The hanyou looked in Mekura's direction and almost became hypnotized by his graceful movements. He then took notice of the obvious, "He won't last much longer at the rate he's moving. We have to help him."

            "No, let me. I'll help him, you and Kagome tend to Miroku." Sango placed her boomerang on her back and unsheathed her katana. She darted towards the Hell-Spawn Lizard and jumped into the conflict.

            The Hell-Spawn Lizard flailed his arms and tail in a desperate attempt to defend himself against Mekura. His effort eventually paid off and he managed to strike Mekura with his massive arm. Mekura collapsed onto the ground and was picked up by the huge lizard. The Hell-Spawn Lizard held Mekura in his powerful grip and began to crush the mortally injured hunter.

            "Let him go!" shouted Sango as she severed the lizards hand clean off with her sword. She watched as Mekura fell to the ground and spit out a massive amount of blood.

            The Hell-Spawn Lizard sneered at Sango and jumped back with his remaining hand pointed at Sango, "Die foolish woman!" a large ball of fire appeared from his hand and shot towards her.

            Sango closed her eyes and felt the intense heat of the fireball surround her entire body. The heat dissipated and she opened her eye's to find Mekura standing in front of her. He had taken the full force of the attack and shielded Sango from certain death.

            "Strike him down, before he recovers from his attack!" shouted Mekura before collapsing onto the ground.

            Sango and InuYasha both ran at the Hell-Spawn Lizard and simultaneously swung their swords. Sango cut the Hell-Spawn Lizards legs clean off, disabling him from escaping. InuYasha swung tetsusaiga upwards and sliced the demon from his hip up to his neck. The attack killed the demon instantly, the lizards cocky smile turned sour as one of Kagome's arrows found itself lodged in his left eye. The demon exploded into a bright blue light and burst into ashes, leaving behind the shard of the Shikkon jewel.

            The barrier of fire disappeared and the fire and lava covering the earth was absorbed back into the soil. The village lay in ruin, the charred bodies of the dead and lizards covered the ground. The smell was overwhelming and the dark clouds overhead parted revealing the afternoon sun. Even Miroku made a miraculous recovery and got back on his feet, he only felt nauseous, but was strong enough to walk on his own.

            "Mekura!" Sango dropped her sword on the ground and knelt down beside him. His blood drenched the thin protective armor and black clothing that he wore.

            Mekura opened his eyes at the sound of his new friends around him, "What's wrong? He didn't escape did he?"

            "No, he didn't. The demon is dead. Thanks to you." InuYasha smiled with a worried look on his face.

            "Then what's wrong? Why are you just standing over me?" asked Mekura. The hunter placed his hand on his chest and felt it get wet with blood, "Oh, that's why you're all standing over me. Don't worry too much about my well being, it was inevitable. Even I have a my limits, you shouldn't worry about a blind man." Just as Mekura finished reassuring InuYasha and the gang that he was fine, a loud buzzing was heard not to far away.

            "The jewel shard!" shouted Kagome, she quickly turned around and ran over to the pile of dust and retrieved the Shikkon jewel shard and put it away with the other shards.

"InuYasha, it seems that Naraku's flying insects are somewhere nearby, they must've sensed the Shikkon jewel shard." Miroku searched the blue skies and catch sight of a large horde of Naraku's poisonous insects, "Let us make haste and retrieve the jewel shard and leave this place."

            Mekura stood up from the ground and sheathed his bloodstained katana, "Who is this Naraku you speak of?" asked Mekura. "Is he an enemy of yours? If he is I feel I have to help you, after all that you four have done for me, it's the least that I can do." Mekura scanned the skies listening to estimate the distance between them and the flying insects.

            "Sorry, but you're in no condition to fight today, especially someone like Naraku. You need time to heal from your injuries, after all you're not invincible." Replied Miroku.

            "For once I completely agree with Miroku." Commented InuYasha, with that said InuYasha carried Mekura on his back and they fled the area.

            After InuYasha and the gang got a good distance away…back at the village, Kagura entered the destroyed village and looked around. The bodies of the dead lizard demons were scattered all over the ground, and the air with still heavy with the stench of fire and brimstone.

            Kagura pointed in different directions and the flying insects searched in those directions, "It seems that someone has beaten us to the jewel shard." Kagura walked around and found the all too familiar arrows that Kagome would use. The arrows still had a vague aura of purifying magic around them, "If Kagome was here, InuYasha and the others couldn't have gotten far." The wind sorceress pulled out a small feather from her hair and it quickly turned large. She leapt onto the feather and flew high into the heavens along with her insect escorts.

AN: After much deliberation, thought and a few unbiased opinions. It was brought to my attention that I ended the story too quickly. So, I've decided to keep the Mekura character alive and let him develop more of a relationship with Sango, since she and Miroku haven't gotten involved yet.


	5. Kagura and her new puppets

Title: …only human.

By: EVL5011

E-mail: Omnipotentevil5011yahoo.com

AN: If anyone read the alternate outcome you should know why there's a new chapter. I wasn't begged to continue the story, but two different people wrote to me and convinced me to continue. Thus, delaying the inevitable.

Chapter 4: Kagura and her new puppets

Kagura was soaring high above the skies, headed in the direction in which she believed InuYasha and the others could've gone. She passed the ravaged village and hovered over a large forest, far in the distance was another village. As she flew over it something caught her attention and she descended down. Once on the ground she smelled the scent of the freshly buried dead, upon further examination she saw a shimmering object on a door.

She approached the glimmering decoration and smiled, "The fabled demon hunters." Kagura looked around and found not one single person running to destroy her. She then found the graves of the dead hunters and raised her fan in the air, "Dance of the dead!" The mangled bodies of the dead hunters arose from their graves and gave Kagura a long blank stare, "If only the dead could talk, what they could tell me." She thought.

The evil sorceress commanded the deceased men and women to find and kill InuYasha. The dead hunters remained perfectly still; they appeared reluctant to carry out her orders. Kagura yelled at the dead men and women, "You fools! Would dare disobey me?" she shouted. Kagura approached a battle torn man and waved her fan at him. A volley of light shot forward and tore the man into tiny pieces. His frail body scattered all over the dirt and showered the others with a mixture of coagulated blood and gore.

"Lets try that once more! I want you all to kill InuYasha and his friends, if you disobey me once more you'll all share the same fate as your friend." Kagura covered her face with her fan and moved back as the large group of hunters began their pursuit. The evil sorceress smiled and took flight once more. She knew that it would be a matter of time before they would find InuYasha.

Meanwhile…InuYasha and the others arrived at Lady Kaede's village. Lady Kaede, Shippo, and Kilala greeted them. The hanyou was still carrying Mekura on his back and took him inside of the elderly Miko's home. Once they were inside, Kaede brought out a large assortment of medicinal herbs and bandages. Kaede, Sango and Kagome tended to Mekura's life threatening injuries, while InuYasha and Miroku both stood guard outside.

"I hope that he lives, I haven't thanked him for saving me." Sango thought to herself. The young girl was greatly concerned for Mekura. She had grown attached to his bravery and chivalry. Sango had never met anyone like him before.

"Who is this poor soul?" asked Lady Kaede as she wiped the dry blood from Mekura's chest.

Kagome looked at Sango and saw a great weight hanging over her and felt that she should explain, "His name is Mekura. We found him barely alive at his village. He's a demon hunter and slayer. Just like Sango, he's lost everyone he held dear."

Lady Kaede nodded her head and cleaned off the soot from Mekura's face, "What happened to him? He seems to have endured a great battle. Did InuYasha inflict any of these injuries?" she asked.

Before Kagome could answer Sango interrupted her, 'No, InuYasha didn't do any of that. Those burns and injuries were inflicted on him by a lizard demon. Mekura valiantly blocked a massive fireball with his body and shielded me from it." Sango looked at Mekura's face and ran her hand across it, "I owe my life to him. He endured great physical harm for me, more than anyone I can think of." Sango picked up some herbs from a small table and began to apply them on the unconscious slayers wounds.

Back outside…InuYasha and Miroku began to walk through the village feeling a great sense of accomplishment. Miroku looked at InuYasha and spoke to him, "InuYasha you've been pretty quiet since we arrived. Is something bothering you?" Miroku stopped InuYasha and saw a burdened look in the hanyou's eyes.

"Yeah, I still feel responsible for what happened to Mekura." Replied InuYasha.

"It really must be tearing you up inside. I've never seen you show such great concern for anybody but Kagome or Kikyo." Miroku smiled and placed his hand on InuYasha's shoulder.

"What!? What are you implying? That I'm getting soft or something?" shouted InuYasha.

"It's nothing to be ashamed about. After all you are half human, you do share the same feelings and emotions like the rest of us." Miroku knew that InuYasha was showing his true self for once. With a coy smile on his face Miroku said, "You were concerned for him. I think that you're beginning to enjoy his company and skillful swordsmanship."

"Will you shut up already!" InuYasha dared across the village and left Miroku by himself, "Stupid monk, why the hell did he have to bring that up?" InuYasha thought to himself. The hanyou dashed across the green fields and made his way to a large tree. He immediately jumped onto one of the larger branches and tried his hardest to get Miroku's damn words out of his head.

The afternoon sun was shining brightly on Lady Kaede's village, unknown to our protagonists Kagura and her newly acquired puppets were making their way through the vast forests. The sinister sorceress was a few miles away from the small village and scanned the terrain below. She looked back and commanded Naraku's insects to advance ahead of her and search the land below.

Meanwhile, back at the village…Mekura awoke from his sleep in a cold sweat. With his sharp senses he immediately heard the slow, but steady heartbeat of an unknown person, "Who are you?" he asked, "And where am I?"

"I am Kaede, I am the Miko of this village, and you're amongst friends." The elderly Miko replied.

Just as she insisted that he lay back down and rest Sango entered the small house, immediately running over to Mekura's side, "You're awake, how do you feel now?" she asked politely.

"Sango, I dreamt that retched lizard demon had harmed you. I-I have something I wanted to tell you, but hesitated earlier." Mekura sat back up and turned his head towards Sango. "I think that I'm beginning to fall in love with you, I've never met anyone like you."

Before Sango could even convey her repressed feelings for him Miroku burst into the room interrupting her, "Sango get your weapons, I've spotted Naraku's flying insects. They'll be upon us in a matter of minutes." Miroku realized that he had just walked in at the most inconvenient time.

"Where's my sword? I have to help." Mekura stood up and searched for his battered armor. Sango, where's my sword?" he repeated.

"I can't allow you to fight, you still need more time to heal from your wounds." Sango approached Mekura and pleaded that he stay inside and rest, but he refused.

Mekura followed the sound of Lady Kaede's heartbeat and kindly asked her for his sword. She reluctantly retrieved it for him and he exited the small house. Sango fell to her knees and wiped the tears from her face.

"Do not weep for him, it's in his nature to battle demons. For without that, he is without purpose. Do ye understand?" asked Lady Kaede.

Sango looked up at the elderly Miko and nodded her head, "I do. It's in his blood. To refuse him that is to refuse him his very existence." Sango wiped away her remaining tears and followed behind Mekura.

Miroku, Sango, Mekura, and Kagome ran over to where InuYasha was peacefully resting and yelled out his name. The hanyou turned a deaf ear and ignored them. He was oblivious to the imminent danger.

"InuYasha get down here!" yelled Miroku. "Naraku's flying insects are headed this way, we can't let them get close to the village!"

InuYasha opened his eyes and looked down at the five pestering friends, "Well, lets head them off!" InuYasha jumped down from the tree and they quickly made their way through the vast fields of grass. InuYasha and the others ran as fast as they could to stop the advancing insects. When the young hanyou had just noticed that Mekura was with them.

"Mekura? What the hell are you doing? Shouldn't you be resting?" asked InuYasha.

"I should be, but as you can plainly see here I am." Mekura held the handle of his katana tightly in hand and ran ahead of InuYasha and the others.

"Slow down!" yelled InuYasha. Damn it! He's going to get himself killed!"

"That's kind of funny, normally we'd say the same about you!" smirked Kagome.

Mekura came to a halt when he heard the strange buzzing of a large group of creatures. He listened to the advancing threat and also heard the faint sound of multiple people running at him. He held his sword firmly in place and felt the large swarm of insects directly over him and something else. It was the breathing of someone or something without a heartbeat, "What's your name?" he asked in a menacing voice.

Kagura jumped down from her enchanted feather and approached Mekura, "You would dare speak to a lady that way?" Kagura walked in front of Mekura and looked into his eyes. What she saw was a man with unseeing eyes, his blind glare pierced into her empty soul and made her move back from him. With the most wicked smile she could produce she raised her fan high into the air and summoned her demon magic.

Just as Kagura was about to attack Mekura with her fan Sango's voice cried out in the back, 'Mekura! Get away from her! She's our enemy!"

When Mekura heard that, he circled around Kagura. His entire body became a blur in front of her and he then swung his bloodstained sword across her back. She stumbled forward, her evil smile twisted into a sneer, and she retreated before he could further attack her.

But before she fled, Kagura turned and faced her blind enemy, "You blind fool, you would dare strike me?" Kagura moved her arms gracefully across the air and summoned her mindless puppets. She then fled on her feather and left Mekura and the others to deal with the dead and the flying insects.

InuYasha and the others stood behind Mekura and gasped in horror. Kagura was manipulating Mekura's friends and family. The corpses of the fallen demon slayers held their weapons and slowly marched towards them.

Mekura knew something was wrong and moved backwards, "She fled didn't she?" Mekura kept his ear towards InuYasha and the others and waited for someone to respond.

"Yeah, she did, but that's not what's troubling us." Replied Kagome.

"Then tell me, is there another demon clan in front of us? I can't tell, I don't hear any breathing or heartbeats." Mekura drew closer to InuYasha and the others and hated not being able to see his enemies.

"I hate to tell you this, but its…" Sango stopped InuYasha and she walked directly behind Mekura.

"Mekura, its your clan." Sango watched as Mekura's face distorted in confusion.

"That can't be, they're all dead. We buried them." Mekura lowered his sword and began to feel his emotions overwhelm him. "Please tell me it's not true!" Mekura moved his head in the direction of all his friends waiting for a reply.

"Kagura has the sick ability to control the dead and make them carry out whatever orders that she has." InuYasha gritted his teeth and knew that someone had to tell him.

Mekura was in shock, InuYasha pushed him aside and saved him from the attack of one of the dead slayers. The skirmish began and Mekura walked away. His mind was still trying to comprehend what he was just told. He left the others to battle his fallen comrades and just listened as they tore through bone and sinew. From what he could hear the dead slayers were overwhelming InuYasha and the others.

"I can't just walk away." He thought to himself. "But, what if they die and my slain friends find the village? More innocent people will die." With the multiple conflicts going through his head he remembered the one thing that pulled him out from his abysmal conundrum, "Sango…I can't leave her behind." Mekura began to breath heavily and turned back around. He darted back and ran into the battle.

The dead slayers outnumbered InuYasha and the others, apparently they still retained their fighting skills, even after death. Miroku and InuYasha fought side by side both of them were swinging away madly. The highly skilled puppets on the other hand were overrunning Sango and Kagome. With InuYasha and Miroku unable to reach them, that left Mekura.

AN: I'll try to have the next chapter up soon, so keep an eye out for it. Oh, and before I forget a big thanks to: Kagu-chan, Sango Lover, icyangelbmw, and Kirtar, General of the Avens. And if I remember correctly "AgentOrange" for his/her letter convincing me to continue, I'd thank the second person but his/her name escapes me right now.


	6. Even after death

Title: …only human.

By: EVL5011

E-mail: Omnipotentevil5011yahoo.com

Chapter 5: Even after death

Mekura cleared his mind of the thought of tearing apart his former friends, but if he didn't act quickly he would lose his new ones. He turned his attention to the moans and incoherent sounds coming from the dead slayers and rushed into the fray. Mekura could also he the fast beating hearts of his four friends and finally unsheathed his katana and fiercely cut through the dead slayers. The foul smelling blood spattered on his face and the thick gore stuck on his blade.

Mekura kicked away the staggering slayers and finally reached Kagome and Sango, "You two aren't hurt are you?" he asked with a concerned look on his face.

"No, we're fine, but InuYasha and Miroku. Where are they?" asked Kagome.

The three looked past the horde of mindless slayers and saw Miroku and InuYasha completely surrounded. The monk and the hanyou were outnumbered and tiring. The relentless puppets just kept blocking all of their predictable moves. InuYasha couldn't use tetsusaiga's full potential because he still had trouble lifting the heavy sword and Miroku could only hit the slayers with his staff.

"Lets get you two to safety first." Mekura then cleared a path for them to escape. "Remain here, I'll go and help InuYasha and Miroku."

Sango and Kagome were both left a good distance away, but Sango refused to stay put and ran behind Mekura with her boomerang in hand. Kagome wanted to follow behind but knew that she was no use to anyone without her bow and arrows.

"These guys just don't stay down. They're far more aggressive than the previous puppets Kagura has used." InuYasha looked around him and laughed at the thought of a rotting corpse beating him. "So, how you holding up?"

Miroku glanced at InuYasha and batted away another dead slayer, "I can't keep this up much longer!" Miroku spun around in a half circle and knocked down the seemingly endless slayers. But just as things were beginning to look bleak for them the dead stopped and turned their attention elsewhere. It was Mekura and he was challenging the mass of slayers, and if by instinct they began to advance on him.

"Please forgive me." He silently whispered to himself and unleashed a fury of swings and thrusts. The dead slayers fell one by one. The blind swordsman moved quickly through the mindless slayers and stepped on the blood-soiled earth. Before InuYasha accept defeat he ran back to assist Mekura.

"InuYasha? I cleared a path for you to retreat. Why did you return?" asked Mekura.

"Get over yourself, I don't retreat and you didn't think that I was going to let you get all the glory." Smirked InuYasha as he lifted his heavy sword and cut a slayer in two.

They both smiled and continued in their efforts to dwindle the overwhelming numbers. Unfortunately, they were back where they started and the aggressive puppets circled them, again.

"How many are left?" asked Mekura.

"Huh? You can't tell?" replied InuYasha. "I thought that your keen senses could hear their feet touching the ground."

"Normally I could, but some of them are dragging their feet and the ones I thought I cut down are standing again." For the first time in a long time Mekura was uncertain of what he had got himself into.

InuYasha quickly scanned the slayers and took a rough estimate, "At least twenty more of them, but there might as well be one-hundred. Did they fight this well when they were alive?" asked InuYasha.

"They fought better, its kind of funny though. Even after death, they fight like live demon slayers. So be thankful that some of them have already been dismembered when they were killed." Mekura gave a discomforted smile and continued fighting.

Just as the dead were completely around them, the slayers at the back were thrown high into the air. Sango's boomerang whirled through the dead, cutting them in half. The rotted intestines and heavily coagulated blood showered the remaining puppets. InuYasha and Mekura acted quickly and they both jumped over the dead slayers. They both landed behind Sango and thanked her.

Mekura continued trimming down the numerous dead and ran into a slayer wielding a large spear. Mekura dodged the first attack and cleanly cut off his opponents' head. In a wild spasm the headless slayer blindly punctured Mekura on the side. He grabbed the spear and pulled it out of his side and gritted his teeth, but continued fighting with his blood soaking through his clothing. With the dead slayers quickly losing ground, Sango, InuYasha, and Mekura finished off the remaining dead. After a matter of mere seconds they stood over the blood-laden field and were victorious.

At that very moment, Kagura hovered high above the heavens and watched as Mekura killed her puppets. With a wicked look on her face she smiled and continually followed Mekura's every move. "Such fluid movement, if only I had run into him earlier." She thought to herself before disappearing.

"I'm glad to have fought alongside with such skilled warriors." Mekura sheathed his katana and reached in between his thin armor and shirt, "Sango I have something for you. Something I've wanted to give you earlier." He smiled. Mekura felt light headed suddenly and fell to his knees placing both his hands on the ground to break his fall. InuYasha and Sango picked him up off the ground and when they grabbed him by his arms, their hands became wet with blood.

"That's not your blood is it?" asked Sango while looking at her hand.

Mekura faced her and smiled, "…" the words failed to leave his mouth and his head slumped down.

"M-Mekura?" Sango looked at his emotionless face and shook him gently. She felt her world crashing down on her, and urged InuYasha that they take him back to the village.

InuYasha and the gang took Mekura back to the village, in hopes that his injuries weren't too severe. They laid him down on a small pile of hay and watched as Lady Kaede removed his heavily blood soaked clothing and thin armor. The elderly Miko cleaned the blood off of Mekura's torso and examined a deep puncture on his side. Lady Kaede placed her hand on Mekura's chest and frowned with what she had to tell InuYasha and the others.

"I'm sorry, he's gone." Lady Kaede covered Mekura's body with a white sheet, "The wound on his side was fatal, and I can't begin to understand how he continued fighting." Lady Kaede knew that she should leave them for a while and she placed her hand on Sango's shoulder as she passed by.

The hardest hit by the news was InuYasha and Sango, they both found Mekura's courage to be inspiring. Miroku kneeled down on the ground and said a silent prayer. Kagome comforted a heart-broken Sango and InuYasha refused to accept the facts and walked away.

"Why did he have to die?" asked Sango.

Kagome had no real answer to Sango's question and just held her tightly. "I don't know, but I do know that he helped us more than anyone else has."

Miroku finished his prayer and stood back up, when something caught his attention. It was a partially bloodstained paper in between Mekura's armor. He pulled out the piece of paper and carefully unfolded it, his eyes widened when he looked inside. The monk then walked over to Sango and held out the mysterious paper.

"Sango this is for you." Miroku handed Sango the carefully folded piece of paper and walked away. Sango wondered what could be inside and opened it. Inside was a beautiful lotus flower, which had small traces of blood. The paper had some smeared writing, but just enough that she could read.

Kagome looked at the letter and listened as Sango read it out loud, "If I could give you anything, what would I give you? I wish that I could give you unimaginable riches, but I have none. I possess nothing, for I have lost everything that I once had. I have no sight, for if I did I would gaze into your eyes and tell you how I feel. I have neither true destiny nor real power. I can only give you my immortal soul, a single lotus flower and my sword which I plan to retire." A lone tear ran down her cheek and dropped down on the letter. "He was going to give this to me before he collapsed."

Just as she was about to put the paper away InuYasha appeared behind her, he had heard everything. He asked Kagome if she would mind leaving for a second. She agreed and left the two alone, InuYasha had something on his mind.

"It was bound to happen." InuYasha said in his usual voice, completely disregarding Sango's feelings.

"What how can you be so heart-less?" shouted Sango.

"That's not what I meant. Mekura pushed his body past its limit." Replied InuYasha.

"B-but…" stuttered Sango.

"No human being can fight in the state his body was at. He opened my eyes to the sheer determination that drives someone. I sensed his feelings Sango, he began to develop feelings for you." InuYasha took Sango's hand and showed her the piece of paper. "He did it for you."

"Where do we go from here?" Sango asked.

"We give him a proper burial, along with his friends and family." InuYasha released Sango's hand and looked deep into her eyes, "Mekura wasn't a demon, and he wasn't invincible. He was…" InuYasha stopped himself and looked away. "…only human. And I admire him for that."

Sango finally came to the sad realization and accepted it. She knew that there was no use in tearing herself emotionally. Mekura and her were two different people, both bound by fate and torn apart by fate. She knelt down besides Mekuras' lifeless body and stared at his black onyx katana. Sango was disinclined to hold a weapon that once belonged to a blind swordsman, the man she was falling for.

Kagome walked up behind Sango and said, "Where do you want us to bury him?" she whispered, almost frightened to even ask so soon.

Lowering her head she replied, "Back at his village, the same with his friends and family." With that said she stood back up with the beautifully crafted sword and smiled. "Maybe it wasn't meant to be" Sango pondered as she watched some nearby villagers picked up Mekuras' body and exit the village with InuYasha and Miroku. She refused to go with them, she knew that watching them throw dirt on his body would be unbearable.

"You're not going?" asked Kagome, who was watching over Sango.

"No, I rather not." Sango then sat down on a small tree stump and stared at the descending sun and Kagome sat down beside her. Sango pulled out the small lotus flower and wiped the blood from it. The fragrant flower appeared to dance in her hand as the gentle wind blew across the land.

"Are you sure that you're fine?" asked Kagome who was greatly concerned.

"…" but Sango remained silent.

End

AN: Well, thats it for "...only human", now I have something important to ask. I have a continuation already layed out and lined up to write, it takes place a few days after Mekura dies, but I won't write it if no one wants me to. So, if you guys want to see it say so in the review or send me a letter. If you read this chapter carefully you may see something that foreshadows the continuation.


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